Support Maine’s new bill, LD 364, “An Act To Establish the Right To Practice Complementary and Alternative Health Care Act”! LD 364 (SP 104) protects your freedom of choice to utilize services provided by practitioners of complementary and alternative health such as herbalists, traditional naturopaths, nutritional consultants, homeopaths, and many more. LD 364, sponsored by Senator David Miramant, was assigned to the Committee On Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services (HCIFS) on Jan. 31, 2019. Now we need your help to educate these committee members about this bill and convince them to vote yes on it when that time comes. Track the status of the bill here and Take Action here.

What the Bill Does:

LD 364 (SP 104) will protect consumer access to wonderful complementary and alternative health care practitioners by exempting the practitioners from restrictive and unnecessary state health care licensing laws. Practitioners will be able to provide their services without fear of being charged with practice of medicine without a license as long as they avoid a list of prohibited acts such as the use of prescription drugs, or puncture of the skin, and as long as they give out proper disclosures listed in the bill.

What you can do:

Take Action here to send a message of support for LD 364 to your personal legislators and members of the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services (HCIFS). Please take the time to write a personal note on your letter as this will have a greater impact with the legislators. Start building a relationship with your personal Senate and House Representatives.

Call your legislators to leave a message reiterating your support of LD 364. Use the phone numbers listed below to leave a message with each with each member of the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services (HCIFS) and use the information here to leave a message for your personal legislators.

The message for committee members:
“I support LD 364, An Act to Establish the Right to Practice Complementary and Alternative Health Care Act. Please tell [Senator/Representative] [Insert Legislator’s Last Name] that I want [him/her] to please vote yes on LD 364 when it is heard in the HCIFS committee. [Insert your own brief reason why you support access to complementary and alternative health care (i.e., I depend on complementary and alternative health care for myself and my family and I want Maine law to protect my rights as a consumer to a free and educated choice in health care providers.] Thank you.”

The message for your personal legislators: “As a constituent of [Senator/Representative] [Insert Legislator’s Last Name] I want [him/her] to know that I support LD 364, An Act to Establish the Right to Practice Complementary and Alternative Health Care Act. LD 364 has been assigned to the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services. Please tell the [Senator/Representative] that I want [him/her] to please vote yes on LD 364 when it is heard on the floor of the [Senate/House]. [Insert your own brief reason why you support access to complementary and alternative health care (i.e., I depend on complementary and alternative health care for myself and my family and I want Maine law to protect my rights as a consumer to a free and educated choice in health care providers.)] Thank you.”

Members of the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services:

Support your local advocacy team “Safe Harbor Maine”: Safe Harbor Maine is a group of practitioners and consumers of complementary and alternative health care that is committed to providing the people of Maine with the options they deserve in pursuit of health and wellness. They are working closely with NHFA to pass LD 364 into law. Please check out their website, sign-up for their emails, and consider donating your time, talent, or other resources to support their efforts.

When Hearings are scheduled, please plan to attend. Your elected state legislators are interested in your views on proposed legislation. Speaking at a public hearing is an effective way to let them know your opinion (and it’s even more effective when they already know who you are (see steps 1 and 2, above)). Please reach out to Hillary Lester, lobbyist for Safe Harbor Maine, to find out how you can participate in the public hearing process; Hillary’s email is: hillarylister@mainematters.net. The HCIFS committee typically schedules public hearings on Tuesdays at 1pm in the Cross Building, Room 220. Stay in touch with NHFA and Safe Harbor Maine for updates on hearings and work sessions scheduled for LD 364.

Spread the word about LD 364! Please forward this email to your friends and family so they can Take Action to support LD 364 too.